It is possible time passed differently in this other EF realm - maybe it's years there, but weeks/months in SB. THat would explain Rumple, Regina and Hook not aging much, but Henry and his daughter doing so. They did introduce that concept with the realm of the Dark Fairy, so they could go with something similar again.

I personally don't see #2 fitting storyline wise. Putting aside for the moment that Regina|EQ has never shown any signs of being a gay|bisexual character at all in six seasons worth of episodes making it a complete retcon for the character, I have a pretty strong hunch that Lady Tremaine is going to be Henry's nemesis concerning Cinderella and his own daughter. It would be out of character for Regina to put such a love interest before her son, especially in her redeemed state, when Gabrielle has described her own character as very unpleasant, without a redeeming quality as of right now. I would prefer not to see a story with Regina & Henry at odds like that over a love interest, especially since she, Hook, & Rumple are supposed to be onboard with helping Adult Henry. Sure, somebody can argue they could use Regina to redeem Lady Tremaine later but meh. Not interested in the story direction required to get to that point.

Two. Since Regina could maybe be cursed not to remember anything at all, and we would have no idea for how long, pursuing a retcon LGBT story for her character runs the risk of coming off as part of a cursed personality, not a real part of Regina. Are people who are looking for real LGBT representation going to take well to a story telling them 'well, it was just part of the curse?'

If they are pursuing a sincere LGBT storyline, I think it should be fresh, and I hope it is, somebody introduced as who they are, and not this redundant 'retcon a character so they can now come out of the closet' directions that are so prelevant. I have read book series that introduce LGBT characters for who they are at the beginning, TV should do the same.

Finally, I am not saying they won't do it or aren't capable of such a retcon, OUAT has pursued many questionable writing directions for me in the past, but it will turn me off if they do. Plus, as an OQ fan, I will feel so insulted that they messed that relationship up so bad that they think the resolution now is to just retcon Regina into being gay|bisexual to pass off as something 'new' for the character, whether it be with Lady Tremaine or another female character.

My opinions, others may feel differently. Even though Lana voiced wanting Regina to find that happiness after having lost 2 loves, I didn't get the sense there were any immediate plans for that in s7. I always admit I could be wrong, I wouldn't know for sure, but I think Regina's focus is going to lie with Henry for awhile. And I'm fine with that.

I couldn't agree more! I did point out some of this a few pages ago. A LGBT storyline would be a retcon for Regina as well as a way of saying her past loves (Daniel or Robin) weren't really who she truly was. A LGBT storyline should make sense for a character. For 6 seasons nothing in Regina's story hinted bisexuality or her being gay. Suddenly, because they want to tell a LGBT story she has to be revealed as "gay now" and paired with the villain who, incidently is commited to destroy her son's happiness? How can any Regina fan be happy with this? It does sound like an arc Regina's haters and OQ's haters would love, because it would, at the same time undermine her love for Robin and Henry.

A LGBT storyline should be about characters introduced as such since the beginning, or, at the very least shown as strugling with their sexuality. One could hope they've learned something after retconing Ruby and rushing her into being gay just to provide a disposable trophy LGBT episode almost no one saw. Honestly their LGBT fans deserved better than that. That's not good storytelling at all!

Yeah, I would imagine the show hopping from one extreme (retconning for 1 episode) to another (retconning 6 seasons worth) wouldn't be very satisifying. At least, I don't think so, and possibly retconning Regina in such a way would be an extreme to me.

I do remember when they retconned Ruby for that one episode and was left feeling so puzzled on why that particular storyline with Dorothy wasn't pursued for Mulan instead. She already was established earlier on and they even had her appear during s5 in The Bear King with Merida reinforcing her broken heart over Aurora.

But, yeah, we will have to wait and see. Retconning Regina like that now would be invalidating OQ in my eyes. I would be unhappy. In a way, it would undermine the whole Daniel subplot that pushed her towards darkness if suddenly she was just 'confused' the whole time.

I think somebody here also proposed Henry, Cinderella, & Drizella in a triangle? Maybe. But another theory off of that scenerio could be Drizella is really LGBT, hides it from her mother, and has been going along with what her mother wanted pushed her towards Henry?

As for Drizella, I have a theory that it would be revealed she went after Henry to please her mother, and, with both Henry and Cinderella help, she will find out she is actually gay, and that will be the reason why Lady Tremain will cast the curse: it will both serve to remove from her daughter's mind the memory of discovering herself as gay and to separate Henry and Cinderella since Lady Tremain would blame both of them for her daughter's sexuality. My theory is that Drizella and Alice might be a thing.

That could be a way to make the LGBT narrative an important part of the show without involving the main characters directly.

I don't think that would fly as a story line. It comes uncomfortably close to suggesting that being gay is something so bad that a huge curse must be cast to prevent it. The homophobic subtext has the potential to offend so many viewers and garner negative press that I don't see a way it could be done that would not be a train wreck. Whatever they come up with will probably be a positive story featuring supporting characters who pop up periodically. I don't see it being a major story arc.

I just think it's sad that if Henry got stuck in this other realm for all those years, and had all these important moments in his life without his family there. His family, who lets face it, would never had gotten their happy beginnings without him.

Now he finds that own happiness for himself, to have true love, and be a father, and he can't share any of that with them.

Of course time moving differently in this other realm would explain the lack of aging for the returning cast.